is anyone familiar with the inside of the a9l computer. i opened mine up at work and could distinctly smell burn components but couldn't find anything burnt. so what i need to know is what component inside the computer is responsible for setting the timing advance?
The component you're speaking of is the software. It's not a part that you can just remove and replace. Take the EEC to the Ford dealership and have them test it to see if it's good or bad. If it's bad, you'll likely be able to replace it with a used one for much much cheaper than it would cost to fix a bad one.
If the software is damaged it's probably due to the EPROM being smoked. It's not something you can just purchase is stuff back into the box. It's proprietary.
Unless you are an experienced electronics tech that regularly troubleshoots and repairs microprocessor based systems at the component level, I don't recommend trying to fix a bad EEC unit. Two or more years of electronics training are needed just to get you up to speed with how it all works.
The tools required to remove and replace components are out of the scope of most folk’s toolkit. That doesn’t even begin to cover the tester you would need to determine what component was defective.
thanks dagger and j. i work for a company that designs and builds prototype trouble shooting equipment for helicopters. if its electrical i can get it done. but if its just a matter of having ford test it i would rather do that. thanks for the imput.